Video information periodic broadcasting method and apparatus, and video information receiving method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

A video information periodic broadcasting method includes segmenting video information with an equal duration to obtain video segments S i  of each time series, where i is the segment serial number of the video segments. The video segments S i  are connected in series in an order of ascending the segment serial numbers. Segmenting each video segment S i  with an equal duration to obtain video sub-segments S i,j  of each time series, where the number of the video sub-segments S i,j  of each time series is equal to the segment serial number of the video segments corresponding to the same time series, j is the sub-segment serial numbers of all the video sub-segments of the video segment. The video sub-segments S i,j  are connected in series in an order of ascending the sub-segment serial numbers to form the video segment S i . Transmitting the video sub-segments through multiple periodic broadcasting channels with an equal bandwidth.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a U.S. National Phase of InternationalApplication Number PCT/CN2019/113722 filed Oct. 28, 2019 and claimspriority to Chinese Application Number 201811459920.4 filed Nov. 30,2018.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to the technical field of multimedia,and in particular, to a video information periodic broadcasting methodand apparatus, and a video information receiving method and apparatus.

BACKGROUND

As Internet high-definition videos are applied more widely, therequirements for network bandwidths may also be increasingly high. Whenthe conventional network requirements cannot meet the increasingbandwidth demand, it is necessary to increase the number of ContentDelivery Networks (CDN); however, the increase in the number of CDNnetworks requires increased server investment and other costs, andconsumes a lot of electricity.

In Internet traffic, video applications account for an extremely highvolume of traffic, accounting for about 80% of the Internet traffic,while popular videos account for 90% of total video traffic.

For the early traditional broadcasting system, only one program istransmitted per channel. In order to reduce the waiting time for users,some conventional broadcasting solutions are improved, and multiplechannels are allocated to broadcast a same program.

To achieve the effect of Video-On-Demand (VOD), the conventionalbroadcasting solutions needs to consume huge bandwidth resources. Tosave bandwidths, some people have proposed a Pyramid Broadcasting(PB)-based solution.

PB transmits those popular video programs using multiple channels, andat the same time, reduces the user's waiting time and bandwidth demandto the original square root size by taking advantage of the terminal'scaching capabilities.

In the PB solution, if the bandwidth allocated is larger, the user'swaiting time may be improved exponentially. However, if the bandwidthallocated to each video program is not large enough, the PB solution haslittle improvement in the user's waiting time.

Under the condition that the size of the bandwidth allocated isdetermined, in order to reduce the user's waiting time, some people haveproposed a Harmonic Broadcasting (HB) solution. The HB solution firstsegments a video into one or more segments with an equal duration,respectively denoted by a first segment, a second segment, a thirdsegment, . . . , and the last segment. The durations of any two segmentsare equal. Then any segment is horizontally and equally segmented intomultiple sub-segments, respectively denoted by a first sub-segment ofthe segment, a second sub-segment of the segment, . . . , and the lastsub-segment of the segment. All sub-segments of each segment are placedin a certain logic channel in an order of ascending the serial numbers.The bandwidth of the logic channel is limited to a small value. In thelogic channel, each sub-segment is periodically broadcast.

When the total bandwidth allocated is determined, the user's waitingtime of the HB solution is the theoretical lower limit of allbroadcasting solutions. However, the video segmentation mode in the HBsolution is horizontal segmentation, which is difficult to achieve.Moreover, the number of logic channels in the HB solution increaseslinearly with the increase in the number of segments. When the number ofsegments is large, such a channel design needs to consume lots ofadditional resources to maintain each channel.

SUMMARY

An objective of embodiments of the present application is to provide avideo information periodic broadcasting method and apparatus, and avideo information receiving method and apparatus, which allow multipleusers to share channel resources, reduce overall video data traffic, anddo not need to consume additional resources to maintain the logic ofeach channel.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the embodiments of the presentapplication provide a video information periodic broadcasting method,including:

segmenting video information with an equal duration to obtain videosegments S_(i) of each time series, where i is the segment serial numberof the video segments, all the video segments S_(i) are connected inseries in an order of ascending the segment serial numbers to form thevideo information, and the time series is a duration of each videosegment S_(i) of a video program;

segmenting each video segment S_(i) with an equal duration to obtainvideo sub-segments S_(i,j) of each time series, where the number of thevideo sub-segments S_(i,j) of each time series is equal to the segmentserial number of the video segments corresponding to the same timeseries, i is the segment serial number of the video segments, j is thesub-segment serial numbers of all the video sub-segments of the videosegment, and all the video sub-segments S_(i,j) are connected in seriesin an order of ascending the sub-segment serial numbers to form thevideo segment S_(i); and

transmitting the video sub-segments of all the time series through atleast two periodic broadcasting channels to implement video informationperiodic broadcasting.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the embodiments of the presentapplication provide a video information receiving method, including:

generating a video download request;

determining, when a starting point of any one video sub-segment appearsin any one periodic broadcasting channel, whether the video sub-segmentis completely received in a time period of each time series by taking ageneration moment of the video download request as a starting time; and

receiving, according to a determination result, the video sub-segmentfrom the corresponding periodic broadcasting channel starting from astarting point of a video sub-segment that is not completely received.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the embodiments of the presentapplication provide a video information periodic broadcasting apparatus,including:

a first segmenting unit, configured to segment video information with anequal duration to obtain video segments S_(i) of each time series, wherei is the segment serial number of the video segments, all the videosegments S_(i) are connected in series in an order of ascending thesegment serial numbers to form the video information, and the timeseries is a duration of each video segment S_(i) of a video program;

a second segmenting unit, configured to segment each video segment S_(i)with an equal duration to obtain video sub-segments S_(i,j) of each timeseries, where the number of the video sub-segments S_(i,j) of each timeseries is equal to the segment serial number of the video segmentscorresponding to the same time series, i is the segment serial number ofthe video segments, j is the sub-segment serial numbers of all the videosub-segments of the video segment, and all the video sub-segmentsS_(i,j) are connected in series in an order of ascending the sub-segmentserial numbers to form the video segment S_(i); and

a first periodic broadcasting delivery unit, configured to transmit thevideo sub-segments of all the time series through at least two periodicbroadcasting channels to implement video information periodicbroadcasting.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the embodiments of the presentapplication provide a video information receiving apparatus, including:

a video download request unit, configured to generate a video downloadrequest;

a determining unit, configured to determine, when a starting point ofany one video sub-segment appears in any one periodic broadcastingchannel, whether the video sub-segment is completely received in a timeperiod of each time series by taking a generation moment of the videodownload request as a starting time; and

a receiving unit, configured to receive, according to a determinationresult, the video sub-segment from the corresponding periodicbroadcasting channel starting from a starting point of a videosub-segment that is not completely received.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the embodiments of the presentapplication provide an electronic device, including a memory, aprocessor, and a computer program stored in the memory and running onthe processor, where when the processor executes the computer program,the foregoing video information periodic broadcasting method or theforegoing video information receiving method is implemented.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the embodiments of the presentapplication provide a readable storage medium, having a computer programstored thereon, where when the computer program is executed, steps ofthe foregoing video information periodic broadcasting method or theforegoing video information receiving apparatus is implemented.

In view of the above, compared with the prior art, this technicalsolution adopts a vertical dense segmentation method, and simultaneouslyplaces multiple segments in a same channel, so that multiple users canshare channel resources, which not only reduces the overall video datatraffic, but also effectively reduces the number of channels requiredfor video transmission, greatly saving additional overheads required tomaintain the transmission channel, ensuring the feasibility ofengineering implementation, and maintaining the transmission bandwidthdemand similar to the HB solution.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentapplication or the prior art more clearly, the drawings used in thedescription of the embodiments or the prior art are briefly describedbelow. Apparently, the drawings in the following description are onlysome embodiments of the present application, and a person of ordinaryskill in the art can obtain other drawings according to these drawingswithout involving any inventive effort.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a channel bandwidth in the HB solution;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of periodic broadcasting in the HBsolution;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a video information periodic broadcastingmethod according to this technical solution;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of video segmentation according to thistechnical solution;

FIG. 5 a is a first schematic diagram of video segment placementaccording to this technical solution;

FIG. 5 b is a second schematic diagram of video segment placementaccording to this technical solution;

FIG. 5 c is a third schematic diagram of video segment placementaccording to this technical solution;

FIG. 5 d is a fourth schematic diagram of video segment placementaccording to this technical solution;

FIG. 5 e is a fifth schematic diagram of video segment placementaccording to this technical solution;

FIG. 5 f is a sixth schematic diagram of video segment placementaccording to this technical solution;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a video information receiving method accordingto this technical solution;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a client receiving video segments basedon this technical solution;

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of a video information periodicbroadcasting apparatus according to this technical solution;

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of a periodic broadcasting unit ina video information periodic broadcasting apparatus according to thistechnical solution;

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of a video information receivingapparatus according to this technical solution;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to thistechnical solution;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a network topology of a conventionalCDN delivery technology;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a network topology according to thistechnical solution; and

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of VOD according to this technical solution.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure areclearly and completely described below with reference to theaccompanying drawings. With reference to non-limiting exemplaryembodiments shown in the accompanying drawings and detailed in thefollowing description, the exemplary embodiments of the presentdisclosure and various features and advantageous details thereof may bedescribed more comprehensively. It should be noted that the featuresshown in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. The presentdisclosure omits descriptions of known materials, components, andprocess technologies, so as not to obscure the exemplary embodiments ofthe present disclosure. The given examples are only intended tofacilitate the understanding of the implementation of the exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure, and to further enable thoseskilled in the art to implement the exemplary embodiments. Therefore,these examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of theembodiments of the present disclosure.

Unless otherwise defined specifically, the technical terms or scientificterms used in the present disclosure shall have the general meaningsunderstood by those of ordinary skills in the art to which the presentdisclosure belongs. The “first”, “second” and similar words used in thepresent disclosure do not indicate any order, quantity or importance,but are only used to distinguish different components. In addition, inthe various embodiments of the present disclosure, the same or similarreference numerals indicate the same or similar components.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a network topology of a conventionalCDN delivery technology. Only the level-1 cache is described here. Inthe figures, 131, 132, and 133 all represent terminal devices, and 121,122, and 123 all represent CDN nodes.

When the terminal device 131 sends a video-play request URL to a videosource station 11, the video source station is redirected to the nearestCDN node 122 according to a corresponding CDN policy, so that the CDNnode 122 provides video services to the terminal device. When the CDNnode 122 corresponds to more and more terminal devices, and the CDN node122 cannot meet the load, it is necessary to expand the capacity byincreasing the capacity or number of CDN nodes.

Moreover, when the terminal device 131 and the terminal device 133request broadcasting of a same program, assuming that the CDN node doesnot cache the program, then a request needs to be sent to the videosource station 11, and the video source station transmits the sameprogram to the CDN node 122 and the CDN node 123 at the same time, whichcauses a waste of bandwidth. In addition, the user's waiting time isvery long.

In order to reduce the user's waiting time, improvements are made basedon a conventional broadcasting solution. For example, if multiplechannels are allocated to broadcast a same video program, there is stillno need to use a client's cache. Assuming that five channels areallocated to a video program with a duration of 120 minutes for periodicbroadcasting, the maximum waiting time of the users is 24 minutes.Therefore, the maximum waiting time of the users decreases linearly asthe number of channels increases.

In order to save channel bandwidth, a PB-based solution is proposed. Forexample, the PB solution transmits those popular video programs usingmultiple channels, and at the same time, reduces the user's waiting timeand bandwidth demand to the original square root size by takingadvantage of the terminal's caching capabilities. In the PB solution, ifthe bandwidth allocated is larger, the user's waiting time may beimproved exponentially. However, if the bandwidth allocated to eachvideo program is not large enough, the PB solution has littleimprovement in the user's waiting time. For example, four channels areallocated to a video with a duration of 120 minutes, and the user'swaiting time of the PB solution is greater than 19 minutes.

Under the condition that the size of the bandwidth allocated isdetermined, in order to reduce the user's waiting time, Li-Shen Juhn andLi-Ming Tseng propose an HB solution. The HB solution first segments avideo into N segments with an equal duration, respectively denoted byS₁, S₂, S₃, . . . , S_(N). The durations of any two segments satisfiesD_(i)=D_(j). The i^(th) segment S_(i) is then horizontally and equallysegmented into i sub-segments, respectively denoted by S_(i,1), S_(i,2),. . . , S_(i,i). As shown in FIG. 1 , assuming an example of the HBsolution that N equals to 4, a time sequence ID (slotID) is annotatedabove each broadcast segment in a channel C₁. In this example, a videowith a duration of D is first equally segmented into four segmentsaccording to a duration, and then each segment is horizontally segmentedinto i equal sub-segments according to the size of the serial number i.Finally, all the sub-segments of each segment are individually put intoa logic channel C_(i), and broadcast in an order of ascending thesub-segment serial numbers. As shown in FIG. 2 (the ordinate Bandwidthin FIG. 2 represents a video playback rate b of broadcasting the entirevideo program, and the abscissa Time represents time), the bandwidth ofthe logic channel C_(i) is b/i. broadcasting the entire video programare: In the logic channel C_(i), each sub-segment is periodicallybroadcast. Therefore, the bandwidth demand for broadcasting the entirevideo program is:

$\begin{matrix}{B = {{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}\frac{b}{i}} = {H_{N}*b}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

where N is the number of video segments, H_(N) is a harmonic number ofN, and b is the video playback rate.

When the total bandwidth allocated is determined, the user's waitingtime of the HB solution is the theoretical lower limit of allbroadcasting solutions. For example, when four video channels areallocated to a video with a program duration of 120 minutes, the waitingtime of the HB solution is less than 4 minutes. However, the videosegmentation mode in the HB solution is horizontal segmentation, whichis difficult to achieve. Moreover, the number of logic channels in theHB solution increases linearly with the increase in the number ofsegments. For example, after a program is equally segmented into 50segments, the HB solution requires 50 logic channels to transmit thesesegments. When the number of segments is large, such a channel designneeds to consume lots of additional resources to maintain each logicchannel.

On this basis, this technical solution provides a video informationperiodic broadcasting method, as shown in FIG. 3 . The video informationperiodic broadcasting method can be applied to a CDN server.Specifically, the CDN server constitutes a CDN. The CDN is a CDN builton the Internet, relies on edge servers deployed in various places, andobtains the required video content after being used through a loadbalancing module, a content delivery module, a scheduling module andother functional modules of a central platform, reducing Internetcongestion and increasing user's access response speed and hit rate. Inthis embodiment, the number of the CDN servers is not specificallylimited. The CDN server may be a server, or several servers, or a servercluster formed by several servers. The method includes:

Step 301): Segment video information with an equal duration to obtainvideo segments S_(i) of each time series, where i is the segment serialnumber of the video segments, and all the video segments S_(i) areconnected in series in an order of ascending the segment serial numbersto form the video information.

In this embodiment, assuming that there is a video program with aduration of D, and the playback rate of the video program is b, so thetotal size of the video is S=D*b. Taking a video program with a durationof 120 minutes as an example, if the playback rate is 10 Mbps, then thetotal size of the video is 9 Gbytes. Assuming that it is intended toreduce the user's waiting time to:T=D/N  (2)

where N is a positive integer, and T is the user's waiting time.

In this technical solution, the video program is equally segmented intoN segments. S_(i) is the i^(th) segment of the video program. Theduration of each S_(i) is d. The duration d is called a time series. Allthe segments are connected in series in an order of ascending segmentserial numbers to form the entire video program.

Step 302): Segment each video segment S_(i) with an equal duration toobtain video sub-segments S_(i,j) of each time series, where the numberof the video sub-segments S_(i,j) of each time series is equal to thesegment serial number of the video segments corresponding to the sametime series, i is the segment serial number of the video segments, j isthe sub-segment serial numbers of all the video sub-segments of thevideo segment, and all the video sub-segments S_(i,j) are connected inseries in an order of ascending the sub-segment serial numbers to formthe video segment S_(i).

In this technical solution, the i^(th) segment S_(i) of the videoprogram is equally segmented into i sub-segments. S_(i,j) is the j^(th)sub-segment of the segment S_(i), and all the sub-segments are connectedin series in an order of ascending the segment serial numbers to formthe entire segment. The size of S_(i,j) is S_(i)/i. As shown in FIG. 4 ,an example of video segmentation in this technical solution is shown,where N=10. First, the video is equally segmented into 10 segments, andthen the i^(th) segment S_(i) of the video is equally segmented into isub-segments.

Step 303): Transmit the video sub-segments of all the time seriesthrough at least two periodic broadcasting channels to implement videoinformation periodic broadcasting.

In this technical solution, the step of transmitting the videosub-segments of all the time series through at least two periodicbroadcasting channels includes:

successively placing first video sub-segments of each video segment atcorresponding positions in a space of a first time series of acorresponding periodic broadcasting channel in an order of ascending theserial numbers of periodic broadcasting signals based on the sizes ofthe first video sub-segments of each video segment according to theorder of ascending the segment serial numbers; and

in a space of any other time series k in all periodic broadcastingchannels, making the positions of the video sub-segments S_(i,j) of eachvideo segment S_(i) in the periodic broadcasting channel the same as thepositions of the first video sub-segments S_(i,1) of the correspondingvideo segment in the space of the first time series of the periodicbroadcasting channel; where j=(k−1) mod i+1.

In practice, in the case of only one periodic broadcasting channel, thevideo program in the periodic broadcasting channel using a programduration as a period is cyclically delivered.

In this embodiment, assuming that there are enough channels fortransmitting the video program, the transmission bandwidth of eachchannel is equal. Taking N=10 as an example, in consideration of thearrangement of sub-segments in each channel of a first time series: asub-segment S_(1,1) is first placed in a channel C1, in this case, theremaining space of C₁ in the first time series is 0, as shown in FIG. 5a and FIG. 5 b . The shaded part indicates the remaining space in thechannel. Unshaded elements indicate sub-segments that are arranged.S_(2,1) is then placed in a channel C₂, in this case, C₂ has d/2 spaceleft in the first time frame. Then S_(3,1) is placed in the channel C₂,in this case, C₂ only has d/6 space left, which is not enough toaccommodate S_(4,1). Therefore, S_(4,1) is placed in a channel C₃, inthis case, C₃ has 3d/4 space left. Then S_(5,1) is placed in a channelC₃, and C₃ has 11d/20 space left. During placement of S_(6,1), becausethe remaining space of channel C₂ is enough to accommodate S_(6,1), thesegment S_(6,1) is placed in the channel C₂, and the remaining space ofC₂ is 0, and then sub-segments S_(7,1), S_(8,1), S_(9,1), and S_(10,1),as shown in FIG. 5 c , FIG. 5 d , FIG. 5 e , and FIG. 5 f . Such anarrangement is actually a greedy algorithm. Specifically, thesub-segments of each segment are placed in the remaining space of thechannel with the smaller serial number as much as possible. These foursub-segments can be placed in the channel C₃, and the remaining space ofC₃ is 179d/2520.

The above is the position arrangement of the sub-segments in the channelin the first time series. On this basis, in any time series k, thepositions of the sub-segments S_(i,j) belonging to the segment S_(i) inthe channel are the same as the positions of the sub-segments S_(i,1) inthe channel in the first time frame. j=(k−1) mod i+1. For example, thesub-segments of the segment S₆ in the tenth time series are S_(6,4), andthe sub-segments S_(6,4) in the time series are located at the tail endof the channel C₂. Each channel periodically broadcasts all sub-segmentsof the video in this mode.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a video information receiving method accordingto this technical solution. The method includes:

Step 601): Generate a video download request.

Step 602): Determine, when a starting point of any one video sub-segmentappears in any one periodic broadcasting channel, whether the videosub-segment is completely received in a time period of each time seriesby taking a generation moment of the video download request as astarting time.

Step 603): Receive, according to a determination result, the videosub-segment from the corresponding periodic broadcasting channelstarting from a starting point of a video sub-segment that is notcompletely received.

Assuming that there is enough space on the client to cache part of thevideo being played. When watching a video, a user waits to downloadvideo data until the starting point of any sub-segment in any channel isencountered. Assuming that the user starts downloading the video data ata moment T₀. The user has to follow the following steps when receivingsegments:

1) In a period of a time series, i.e., in a time period from T₀ to T₀+d,when a starting point of any sub-segment S_(i,j) appears in any channelC_(i) (1≤i≤channelID_(max)), the user starts downloading the video datafrom the channel C_(i). Assuming that the moment when the user startsdownloading the sub-segment S_(i,j) is T₀+δ_(i) (0≤δ_(i)≤1), where δ_(i)is the time elapsed from the moment T₀ until the starting point of thesub-segment S_(i,j) is encountered.

2) When the segment S_(i) is completely received by the user, the userstops receiving the segment S_(i) from the channel C_(j) where S_(i) islocated. When a starting point of sub-segments of a segment S_(k) thatis not received completely appears in the channel C_(j), the usercontinues to receive video data from the channel C_(j). For the segmentS_(i), the user stops receiving all its sub-segments at a momentT₀+(i−1)d+δ_(i).

3) In order to ensure that the video can be played continuously, thetime point when the user starts watching the vide is postponed for aperiod of time. If the user starts downloading the video data at themoment T₀, as shown in FIG. 7 , the light shaded part in FIG. 7 is avideo segment received by the user who starts receiving the video fromthe moment T₀ and watching the video from the moment T₀+d, then thevideo segment is received by the user who starts watching the video atthe moment T₀+d, implementing uninterrupted viewing of the video.

This technical solution improves the original segmentation mode andchannel relationship while maintaining the specific low transmissionbandwidth demand of the HB algorithm, so that this technical solution iseasy to implement by engineering. However, the bandwidth required bythis technical solution in transmission of the video program is close tothe theoretical lower limit of the periodic broadcasting algorithm, andthis technical solution is suitable for scenarios where the channelbandwidth cannot be changed once it is determined. Furthermore, it canbe seen from FIG. 7 that the user can watch the video by waiting for atime period of a time series after sending a video watching request.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a network topology according to thistechnical solution. In 13, 21 represents SCDN, and 231, 232, and 233 allrepresent GW CDN (gateway CDN), which is similar to a home routerdevice. Compared with FIG. 12 , there is only one CDN.

CDN and GW CDN deliver in a multicast network mode, as shown in FIG. 22, so that the overlaying bandwidth traffic of repeated popular videostreams can be transmitted on the basis of a few network bandwidth. Evenif the number of terminals is increased, the network capacity does notneed to be increased, and only one CDN is deployed. There is a two-waynetwork connection between CDN and GW CDN at the same time, fortransmitting interactive signaling and some low-speed network data.

FIG. 14 shows the VOD process based on this technical solution, and thedetailed process is described as follows:

S301: An SCDN determines a target popular video. The target popularvideo is transferred from VOD on-demand to periodic broadcastingtransmission. First, the target popular video is segmented. The targetpopular video is segmented with an equal duration to obtain videosegments S_(i) of each time series, where i is the segment serial numberof the video segments, and all the video segments S_(i) are connected inseries in an order of ascending the segment serial numbers to form thevideo information. Each video segment S_(i) is segmented with an equalduration to obtain video sub-segments S_(i,j) of each time series, wherethe number of the video sub-segments S_(i,j) of each time series isequal to the segment serial number of the video segments correspondingto the same time series, i is the segment serial number of the videosegments, j is the sub-segment serial numbers of all the videosub-segments of the video segment, and all the video sub-segmentsS_(i,j) are connected in series in an order of ascending the sub-segmentserial numbers to form the video segment S_(i). The video sub-segmentsof all time series are transmitted through periodic broadcastingchannels. The target popular video is sent to a broadcast network.

S302: The terminal generates a video-play request, and initiatesdownloading of the target popular video. The video-play request is aURL. First, DNS resolution is performed on the URL, and a DNS servermaps a domain name to a corresponding IP address of the SCDN accordingto the policy, so that the request arrives at the SCDN first, forexample, it is requested to resolve the URL tohttp://www.scdn.com/a.mp4.

S303: After receiving the request, the SCDN performs request checking toquery whether there is a related film source and whether the film sourceis being broadcast. When the playback start-up requirements are met, aredirection response is returned, and the related URL of the GW CDN isreturned. For example, the redirection URL can be set ashttp://gw_cdn.com/a.mp4.

S304: The terminal sends the request to the GW CDN according to theredirection URL. It is necessary to configure DNS mapping on a localarea network of the terminal device, and associate the domain name ofgw_cdn.com with the IP address of the GW CDN. The GW CDN device may bedeployed on each local area subnet.

S305: The GW CDN sends a request to the SCDN. The request includes thename and number information of the on-demand video source, and therequest exchange format is a JSON format that is easy to read andextensible.

S306: The SCDN returns information of the periodic broadcasting channel,including an IP address, a port or a frequency point, and a PID of therelated periodic broadcasting channel.

S307: The GW CDN receives segment data, sorts the segment data, cachesthe first arrived segment, and integrates stream data into a protocolformat supported by the terminal for playback.

S308: When the playback ends, the terminal sends an end message to theGW CDN, and the GW CDN stops receiving streams from the broadcastingchannel, and also stops sending streams to the terminal, and clears theplayback control state.

S309: The GW CDN forwards the playback end message to the SCDN, and theSCDN updates the playback state synchronously, and clears the relatedstate and database at the same time.

The periodic broadcasting implementation in this solution adopts asegment multi-channel delivery mode. The first video sub-segments ofeach video segment are successively placed at corresponding positions ina space of a first time series of a corresponding periodic broadcastingchannel in an order of ascending the serial numbers of periodicbroadcasting signals based on the sizes of the first video sub-segmentsof each video segment according to the order of ascending the segmentserial numbers, and in a space of any other time series k in allperiodic broadcasting channels, the positions of the video sub-segmentsS_(i,j) of each video segment S_(i) in the periodic broadcasting channelare the same as the positions of the first video sub-segments S_(i,1) ofthe corresponding video segment in the space of the first time series ofthe periodic broadcasting channel. In this way, whenever a viewer playsfrom the beginning of the film source, the waiting time is extremelyshort. The waiting time depends on the granularity of the segment, whichis generally controlled within a few seconds. In this way, from theeffect of terminal playback, there is no difference from theconventional Internet on-demand in the streaming time and fluency.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of a video information periodicbroadcasting apparatus according to this technical solution. Theapparatus includes:

a first segmenting unit 801, configured to segment video informationwith an equal duration to obtain video segments S_(i) of each timeseries, where i is the segment serial number of the video segments, andall the video segments S_(i) are connected in series in an order ofascending the segment serial numbers to form the video information;

a second segmenting unit 802, configured to segment each video segmentS_(i) with an equal duration to obtain video sub-segments S_(i,j) ofeach time series, where the number of the video sub-segments S_(i,j) ofeach time series is equal to the segment serial number of the videosegments corresponding to the same time series, i is the segment serialnumber of the video segments, j is the sub-segment serial numbers of allthe video sub-segments of the video segment, and all the videosub-segments S_(i,j) are connected in series in an order of ascendingthe sub-segment serial numbers to form the video segment S_(i); and

a first periodic broadcasting delivery unit 803, configured to transmitthe video sub-segments of all the time series through at least twoperiodic broadcasting channels to implement video information periodicbroadcasting.

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of a periodic broadcasting unit inthe video information periodic broadcasting apparatus according to thistechnical solution. the first periodic broadcasting delivery unit 803includes:

a first periodic broadcasting delivery module 8031, configured tosuccessively place first video sub-segments of each video segment atcorresponding positions in a space of a first time series of acorresponding periodic broadcasting channel in an order of ascending theserial numbers of periodic broadcasting signals based on the sizes ofthe first video sub-segments of each video segment according to theorder of ascending the segment serial numbers; and

a second periodic broadcasting delivery module 8032, configured to make,in a space of any other time series k in all periodic broadcastingchannels, the positions of the video sub-segments S_(i,j) of each videosegment S_(i) in the periodic broadcasting channel the same as thepositions of the first video sub-segments S_(i,1) of the correspondingvideo segment in the space of the first time series of the periodicbroadcasting channel; where j=(k−1) mod i+1.

In this embodiment, the apparatus further includes:

a second periodic broadcasting delivery subunit, configured tocyclically deliver, in the case of only one periodic broadcastingchannel, the video program in the periodic broadcasting channel using aprogram duration as a period.

In this embodiment, the apparatus further includes:

a channel bandwidth determining unit, configured to determine abandwidth of the periodic broadcasting channel according to a playbackbitrate of the video information.

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of a video information receivingapparatus according to this technical solution. The apparatus includes:

a video download request unit 11, configured to generate a videodownload request;

a determining unit 22, configured to determine, when a starting point ofany one video sub-segment appears in any one periodic broadcastingchannel, whether the video sub-segment is completely received in a timeperiod of each time series by taking a generation moment of the videodownload request as a starting time; and

a receiving unit 33, configured to receive, according to a determinationresult, the video sub-segment from the corresponding periodicbroadcasting channel starting from a starting point of a videosub-segment that is not completely received.

In this embodiment, the apparatus further includes:

a display unit, configured to display the received video sub-segmentfrom the generation moment of the video download request after the timeperiod of a time series.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to theembodiments of the present application. The electronic device includes amemory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory andrunning on the processor, where when the processor executes the computerprogram, the foregoing video information periodic broadcasting method orthe foregoing vide information receiving method is implemented.

In the video information periodic broadcasting method or the videoinformation receiving method provided by the embodiments of thespecification, the specific functions realized by the memory and theprocessor can be explained in comparison with the foregoing embodimentsin the specification, and can achieve the technical effects of theforegoing embodiments, and details are not described herein.

In this embodiment, the memory may include a physical apparatus forstoring information, which generally digitizes the information and thenstores the digitized information in a medium using an electrical,magnetic, or optical method. The memory described in this embodiment mayalso include: an apparatus that stores information in an electric energymode, such as a RAM and a ROM; an apparatus that stores information in amagnetic energy mode, such as a hard disk, a floppy disk, a magnetictape, a magnetic core memory, a magnetic bubble memory, and a USB flashdisk; and an apparatus that stores information in an optical mode, suchas a CD or a DVD. Certainly, there are other types of memories, such asa quantum memory and a graphene memory.

In this embodiment, the processor may be implemented in any suitablemanner. For example, the processor may take the form of, for example, amicroprocessor or a processor, and a computer-readable medium storingcomputer readable program codes (for example, software or firmware)executed by the (micro)processor, a logic gate, a switch, an ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic controller andan embedded microcontroller, etc.

In this embodiment, the embodiments of the present application furtherprovide a readable storage medium, having a computer program storedthereon, where when the computer program is executed, steps of theforegoing video information periodic broadcasting method or steps of theforegoing video information receiving method are implemented.

In view of the above, this technical solution adopts a vertical densesegmentation method, and simultaneously places multiple segments in asame channel, so that multiple users can share channel resources, whichnot only reduces the overall video data traffic, but also effectivelyreduces the number of channels required for video transmission, greatlysaving additional overheads required to maintain the transmissionchannel, ensuring the feasibility of engineering implementation, andmaintaining the transmission bandwidth requirements similar to the HBsolution.

In the 1990s, the improvement of a technology can be clearlydistinguished between a hardware improvement (for example, animprovement to a circuit structure of a diode, a transistor, a switch,etc.) or a software improvement (an improvement to a method flow).However, with the development of technology, the improvements of manycurrent method flows can be regarded as direct improvements to thehardware circuit structure. Designers almost always obtain thecorresponding hardware circuit structure by programming the improvedmethod flow into the hardware circuit. Therefore, it cannot be said thatthe improvement of a method flow cannot be realized by hardware entitymodules. For example, a Programmable Logic Device (PLD) (for example, aField Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)) is such an integrated circuit, alogic function of which is determined by the user's programming of thedevice. It is programmed by the designer to “integrate” a digital systemonto a PLD, without inviting a chip manufacturer to design andmanufacture a dedicated integrated circuit chip. Moreover, nowadays,instead of manually manufacturing integrated circuit chips, thisprogramming is mostly realized by using “logic compiler” software, whichis similar to a software compiler used in program development andwriting, and an original code before compilation is also written in aspecific programming language, which is called Hardware DescriptionLanguage (HDL), and there are many HDLs, such as Advanced BooleanExpression Language (ABEL), Altera Hardware Description Language (AHDL),Confluence, Cornell University Programming Language (CUPL), HDCal, JavaHardware Description Language (JHDL), Lava, Lola, MyHDL, PALASM, RubyHardware Description Language (RHDL). Currently, the most commonly usedare Very-High-Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware Description Language(VHDL) and Verilog2. It should also be clear to those skilled in the artthat the hardware circuit implementing the logic method flow can beeasily obtained only by logically programming the method flow in some ofthe foregoing hardware description languages and programming into anintegrated circuit.

Those skilled in the art also know that, in addition to realizing theclient and the server in a purely computer readable program code manner,it is entirely possible to logically program the method steps, so thatthe client and the server can realize the same functions in the form ofthe logic gate, the switch, the ASIC, the programmable logic controllerand the embedded microcontroller, etc. Therefore, the client and theserver can be regarded as hardware components, and the apparatusesincluded in the client and the server for realizing various functionscan also be regarded as structures inside the hardware components. Oreven, the apparatuses for realizing various functions can be regarded asboth software modules for realizing the method and structures inside thehardware components.

From the descriptions of the foregoing embodiments, it can be known thatthose skilled in the art can clearly understand that the presentapplication can be implemented by means of software plus necessarygeneral hardware platforms. Based on such an understanding, thetechnical solutions of the present application essentially or the partcontributing to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a softwareproduct. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium,such as the ROM/RAM, the magnetic disk, and the optical disk, andincludes several instructions for instructing a computer device (whichmay be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) toexecute the methods described in embodiments of the present applicationor some parts of the embodiments.

The various embodiments in the specification are described in aprogressive manner, and the same or similar parts between the variousembodiments may be referred to each other, and each embodiment focuseson the differences from other embodiments. In particular, the embodimentof the client and the server can be explained with reference to theintroduction of the embodiment of the foregoing method.

The present application can be described in the general context ofcomputer executable instructions executed by a computer, such as aprogram module. Generally, the program modules include routines,programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that executeparticular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Thepresent application can also be practiced in distributed computingenvironments where tasks are executed by remote processing devices thatare connected through a communication network. In the distributedcomputing environments, the program modules can be located in both localand remote computer storage media including storage devices.

Although the present application is described through the embodiments,those of ordinary skill in the art know that there are many variationsand changes in the present application, without departing from thespirit of the present application, and it is hoped that the appendedclaims include these variations and changes, without departing from thespirit of the present application.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A video information periodic broadcastingmethod, comprising: segmenting video information with an equal durationto obtain video segments S_(i) of each time series, wherein i is thesegment serial number of the video segments, all the video segmentsS_(i) are connected in series in an order of ascending the segmentserial numbers to form the video information, and the time series is aduration of each video segment S_(i) of a video program; segmenting eachvideo segment S_(i) with an equal duration to obtain video sub-segmentsS_(i,j) of each time series, wherein the number of the videosub-segments S_(i,j) of each time series is equal to the segment serialnumber of the video segments corresponding to the same time series, i isthe segment serial number of the video segments, j is the sub-segmentserial numbers of all the video sub-segments of the video segment, andall the video sub-segments S_(i,j) are connected in series in an orderof ascending the sub-segment serial numbers to form the video segmentS_(i); and transmitting the video sub-segments of all the time seriesthrough at least two periodic broadcasting channels to implement videoinformation periodic broadcasting, wherein the step of transmitting thevideo sub-segments of all the time series through at least two periodicbroadcasting channels with an equal bandwidth comprises: successivelyplacing first video sub-segments of each video segment at correspondingpositions in a space of a first time series of a corresponding periodicbroadcasting channel in an order of ascending the serial numbers ofperiodic broadcasting signals based on the sizes of the first videosub-segments of each video segment according to the order of ascendingthe segment serial numbers; and in a space of any other time series k inall periodic broadcasting channels, making the positions of the videosub-segments S_(i,j) of each video segment S_(i) in the periodicbroadcasting channel the same as the positions of the first videosub-segments S_(i,1) of the corresponding video segment in the space ofthe first time series of the periodic broadcasting channel; whereinj=(k−1) mod i+1.
 2. The video information periodic broadcasting methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising: in the case of only oneperiodic broadcasting channel, cyclically delivering the video programin the periodic broadcasting channel using a program duration as aperiod.
 3. The video information periodic broadcasting method accordingto claim 1, further comprising: determining a bandwidth of the periodicbroadcasting channel according to a playback bitrate of the videoinformation.
 4. A video information periodic broadcasting apparatus,comprising: a first segmenting unit, configured to segment videoinformation with an equal duration to obtain video segments S_(i) ofeach time series, wherein i is the segment serial number of the videosegments, all the video segments S_(i) are connected in series in anorder of ascending the segment serial numbers to form the videoinformation, and the time series is a duration of each video segmentS_(i) of a video program; a second segmenting unit, configured tosegment each video segment S_(i) with an equal duration to obtain videosub-segments S_(i,j) of each time series, wherein the number of thevideo sub-segments S_(i,j) of each time series is equal to the segmentserial number of the video segments corresponding to the same timeseries, i is the segment serial number of the video segments, j is thesub-segment serial numbers of all the video sub-segments of the videosegment, and all the video sub-segments S_(i,j) are connected in seriesin an order of ascending the sub-segment serial numbers to form thevideo segment S_(i); and a first periodic broadcasting delivery unit,configured to transmit the video sub-segments of all the time seriesthrough at least two periodic broadcasting channels to implement videoinformation periodic broadcasting, wherein the first periodicbroadcasting delivery unit comprises: a first periodic broadcastingdelivery module, configured to successively place first videosub-segments of each video segment at corresponding positions in a spaceof a first time series of a corresponding periodic broadcasting channelin an order of ascending the serial numbers of periodic broadcastingsignals based on the sizes of the first video sub-segments of each videosegment according to the order of ascending the segment serial numbers;and a second periodic broadcasting delivery module, configured to make,in a space of any other time series kin all periodic broadcastingchannels, the positions of the video sub-segments S_(i,j) of each videosegment S_(i) in the periodic broadcasting channel the same as thepositions of the first video sub-segments S_(i,1) of the correspondingvideo segment in the space of the first time series of the periodicbroadcasting channel; wherein j=(k−1) mod i+1.
 5. The video informationperiodic broadcasting apparatus according to claim 4, furthercomprising: a second periodic broadcasting delivery unit, configured tocyclically deliver, in the case of only one periodic broadcastingchannel, the video program in the periodic broadcasting channel using aprogram duration as a period.
 6. The video information periodicbroadcasting apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: achannel bandwidth determining unit, configured to determine a bandwidthof the periodic broadcasting channel according to a playback rate of thevideo information.
 7. An electronic device, comprising a memory, aprocessor, and a computer program stored in the memory and running onthe processor, wherein when the processor executes the computer program,the video information periodic broadcasting method according to claim 1is implemented.
 8. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium,having a computer program stored thereon, wherein when the computerprogram is executed, steps of the video information periodicbroadcasting method according to claim 1 are implemented.